Interview with WA Patterson

Next up in my series of author interviews is WA Patterson. Welcome WA!

Briefly describe your journey in writing your first book.

I've always wanted to write books but never took the time to do it. I got laid off in 2006 and my wife said to take some time and stay home with our daughter. I started to write my book and before I knew it - that was my job as much as anything. I got in a groove and didn't have to really stress anything too much and that got my through 80% of the first draft. Then I got employed again and I slowed down. By that time the book was almost finished and writing the rest of it was something I had to do instead of wanted to do.

Did you query agents or traditional publishers before publishing on Amazon?

Yes. I spent 4 years shopping the book, pitching it to agents and publishers, and trying different approaches with no results.

What factors influenced your decision to self-publish?

I turned 40 this year and then re-read the book for fun. My main Character - Carl - is doggedly independent and I realized I was dishonoring the spirit of the book I wrote, the character I created by leaving the fate of the book in other hands. I started researching the idea and in less than 2 weeks after turning 40 I had a plan to self-publish and market Future Useless in ebook and print, and make a profit! I got more money out of it in the first month than I put in, so I'm happy.

Will you try to garner a traditional publishing contract for any future books?

I will always try to get a contract for my future books. In fact, my current book is with a publisher now under submission, but they know I've self-published the book already. I don't see self-publishing an "us or them" mentality. I think of self-publishing like the independent movie scene. You make a product and market it on your own, but can be picked up by a larger distributor later through that exposure or keep doing it on your own.

Did you design your cover art? If not, would you care to share your graphic designer’s information?

I did my own cover art. I liked the cheap dime-store paperbacks I remember from the 1970's and wanted to honor that. I also wanted something simple, bright and easy to see in a sea of photographic covers that now blend into the background. I can always spot my book in multiple listings and it's doing what I want it to do - standing out!

How did you feel when you got your first sale? Are you pleased with sales so far?

I was elated, sure, but I was elated with the sale of my 50th book and I'll be elated with my 100th sale that should happen this week. I'm just happy someone is reading my work is more of a thrill than the money.

What kinds of social media [twitter, facebook, webpage, blog, writing forums] are you involved with trying to garner attention for your book(s)?

I've adopted twitter, facebook, started a blog and forums for all that, but now I'm going to have to budget my time between them and actually writing to get some more done and finish my next book by my self-imposed deadline.

Besides Amazon, are there any other sites where your books are for sale?

I am at smashwords.com and Barnes & Noble's web site through them. I sell my hand-bound copies through my website at wapatterson.com and I've got a project at kickstarter.com to get backers to make 1000 copies in print that's kind of stalling right now. I think I jumped the gun on that one and didn't have the network I needed to make that work quite yet. (but it's at: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wapatterson/publish-future-useless-a-novel-about-carl-gussmans)

What’s next for you?

Prometheus - The Ugly Boy - And Medusa! is the book I'm writing now. My 7-year-old daughter was upset that her older sisters had a book of mine they could read and she doesn't understand the first one I wrote just yet, so I'm writing this one for her. Her birthday is at the end of June and I have imposed a deadline on myself to have the first draft done then so I can read it to her. It's a kids book - sure - but it's got some themes in it I think parents will appreciate and something I've been working on for a few years. I am sure she will love it.

What's your favorite part of writing a novel?

A new thread was started over at Book Bazaar on Kindleboards and there was so many great responses that I wanted to post them over here too.

I'll start: my favorite part of writing a novel is getting a scene or chapter back from my co-author, Dave. We write in tandem and edit as we go along. It's funny how sometimes you have the whole chapter plotted out in your head, then I get Dave's next scene and it changes everything. I can't tell you how exciting and challenging it is to write with someone who is totally opposite of you. Dave keeps me from writing too much like a girl and I keep him from writing too much like a retired Marine...we have a great time together.

Sibel Hodge [who started the thread] says: My favourite things are creating characters and writing dialogue. Making up new people from endless possibilities, hearing their voices as I type, and actually seeing them in my head as I write - like watching a movie. The only downside to this is that sometimes the characters take over and literally have conversations with each other in your head. Even when you're trying to sleep!
The Fashion Police (Comedy Mystery) (Volume 1)

Mark Cotton says: I love creating the characters and finding out what they're going to do and say. Sometimes though, it's when that last piece of the plot's puzzle clicks into place and you realize you've got a story that works from beginning to end.

Kristen Tsetsi says: I loooove writing dialogue between two characters in a tense situation. Oh, so much fun.
Homefront (Volume 0)

Margaret Lake says: Finishing is the best. As for the nitty-gritty ... I love dialogue and conflict. I especially love when my characters begin to change and grow in new directions that I never envisioned.
Catherine and the Captain (Volume 1)

J Dean says: All of it. No matter how grueling or difficult it can be at times, the entire process is great.

David Dalglish says: Finishing a short story makes me feel happy about the whole "The End" but not my novels. However, considering I'm writing this stupidly long series, I don't really feel I've reached The End yet. Maybe it'll feel like that when I finally crank out the fifth book. Still, my endings are rarely, um, happy, so that probably hurts the whole feeling. My favorite is far and away having my characters interact. Having them argue, fight, even try to kill each other, all while I sit in the background curious as to what will happen. I rarely know how these things will turn out. I try to surprise myself, and sometimes a saying or argument will sway me when I didn't think it would. Velixar is especially fun for me. He plays the tempter, the intelligent evil, and his conversations with any character are so much fun.
The Weight of Blood (The Half-Orcs, Book 1)

Nancy C. Johnson says: I would have to say, all of the above, especially writing dialogue. That way I can get my three pages per day out of the way a whole lot faster... Just kidding. (Well, not entirely.) I do love writing dialogue. For me, and I'm sure for others, it's almost as if the characters take over. I have no say in it at all. Perhaps they are living in another dimension somewhere, and all I'm doing is tuning in. Anyway, that's how it feels. I dislike doing research, but it's a must for every book. But it usually ends up adding something a little special to the book which I didn't expect. Takes it in a new direction in some cases.
Her Last Letter

Maureen A Miller says: I generally like the twenty pages or so before THE END. Usually I'm building up to some climactic/confrontational scene and when I write that scene it's like I'm by myself at WallyWorld and strapping myself into a rollercoaster and pushing the GO button.
Widow's Tale

Camille LaGuire says: I love exploratory writing, just letting the characters take the bit in their mouths and run. Throwing different problems at them. Playing around. Plotting is similar and therefore also fun. Dialog writing, well yeah, even when you've got things planned out, characters have a way of improvising on you. I feel more pain pulling that stuff into a completed draft. (I hesitate to call it a "first" draft, since a lot of the material is on its second draft by that point.) But that can be a pleasure too - watching the pieces start working together, the timing, the foreshadowing, the misdirection. Then it gets fun again as I rewrite that sucker into perfection.
Have Gun, Will Play

John Fitch V says: I enjoy every aspect of the writing process: the concept stage, the outline/brainstorming, and then the writing. I love writing action scenes, so much to the point where I don't want to take a break while writing them; I keep them fast-paced and energetic, leaving the reader on the edge of their seats.
Turning Back The Clock

Edward C. Patterson says: My favorite moment is when I am alone with my characters and I get them all to myself and I see their potential and make decisions in their lives. That is . . . the moment of creation.
The Academician - Southern Swallow Book I

So what about you author friends, what is your favorite part?

Interview with Brendan Carroll

Available at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001J6ORUI

Brendan Carroll is the author of the Red Cross of Gold/Assassin Chronicle series.  Welcome Brendan!

Briefly describe your journey in writing your first book.

The books I read as a child and then as a teenager never quite satisfied me although they kept me busy AND quiet for hours.  I started writing my own stories with my own characters and my own endings when I was still in elementary school. Eventually, I wrote a fan fiction novel for Star Trek, the original series cast and thought it was pretty good so I started checking into the possibility of getting something published. That was just about twenty-five years ago.

Did you query agents or traditional publishers before publishing on Amazon?

I quickly learned that the publishing industry was a very complex animal and that queries were sometimes like poking a caged lion that hadn’t eaten in several days with a short stick. I wrote a few more books, one of them being Tempo Rubato as a tribute to Mozart. I made a concerted effort to find a publisher or agent for that one. I found an agent in a small town in East Texas that read the book and immediately accused me of plagiarizism. I guess I didn’t look smart enough to write a book… I don’t know, but he took $500 when $500 was a lot more than it is now and then started hounding me to write short stories for HIS magazine. Well, I never saw a penny, but I heard a lot of empty promises. A very disheartening experience to say the least. I stopped wasting postage and anxiety shortly thereafter, but I didn’t stop writing.  That was impossible.

What factors influenced your decision to self-publish?

The publishing industry, as I said before, is not looking for true talent, new ideas or good stories. They are looking out for each other, their friends and their friends’ friends. You have to know someone who knows someone and my geographical location and lack of personal funding did not allow me the luxury of pounding the streets of New York City looking for a publisher/agent.

Will you try to garner a traditional publishing contract for any future books?

I have no intention of ever writing another query letter or reformatting my manuscripts to arbitrary rules. As far as I’m concerned, it is a waste of time and energy. No, definitely not.

Did you design your cover art?  If not, would you care to share your graphic designer’s information?

I did design my own cover art for better or worse.  A friend helped me with the first two or three and then I did them on my own. Once again, I did not have the funds to hire a professional designer and I’m quite pleased with how my covers turned out.

How did you feel when you got your first sale?  Are you pleased with sales so far?

I was thrilled to the toes about my first sell, but then nothing else happened. I knew I had to market the books somehow and my job and other obligations prevented spending much time on trying to figure it all out. Once again, a good friend came to the rescue and I’m fairly pleased with sells so far.  It’s like she says whenever I feel down: “How many books were you selling a year ago?” Answer:  “0” and so I feel better immediately.

What kinds of social media [twitter, facebook, webpage, blog, writing forums] are you involved with trying to garner attention for your book(s)?

I use facebook, but I’m just learning to navigate there. I post on Kindleboards when time allows because they are a great bunch of people and the moderators keep a close eye out for unfriendly/inappropriate posters. I also have blogs posted at Author’s Central, Author’s Den, Wordpress and Blogspot, which I try to keep up as much as possible. I plan on looking into twitter.  I had a webpage, but let it go when I started moving… geesh, this moving thing is killing me.  I also belong to Goodreads and find that a very friendly site for posting and reading.

Besides Amazon, are there any other sites where your books are for sale?

My books are available at Smashwords and many are available in paperback form on Amazon as well. Some of them have made it into Barnes and Noble. I’m not sure if they’ve made it to the I-Store yet.

What’s next for you?

I’ll never stop writing and I’m a bit of a drifter as far as writing is concerned. I want to finish editing and publishing my Red Cross of Gold series, of course, and that might take years. I also have a couple of other manuscripts to brush up, re-write and edit. And, lastly, I have new ideas for new books that I will eventually get to. I guess the very next thing is getting my next book The Red Cross of Gold XVII: Cross Purposes up and running in Kindle format. I’m also working on getting Book XIII on Smashwords and into print as a paperback edition.

 

Interview with Sierra Rose

Available at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Celtic-Evil-Fitzgerald-Brothers-ebook/dp/B003D7LG0U

Welcome Sierra!

Briefly describe your journey in writing your first book.

My first actual book is still sitting in a file cabinet since I wrote it at age sixteen and it needs some modernizing. The journey with my first published book came about as most of my titles do. I was half asleep, planning characters for a new action book when Roarke and his brothers took a direction that I had never planned since I never dreamed on writing a paranormal romance. It was then just a researching and re-planning stage.

Did you query agents or traditional publishers before publishing on Amazon?

Not for my recent books, no. I went that route for another title that is as yet unpublished but for these ones I chose not to deal with the hassle.

What factors influenced your decision to self-publish?

Once I found the world of self-publishing I factored in keeping full control over my story and the plot but the main reason was time. My eyesight is deteriorating and I would rather self-publish and get my stories to readers before I can’t see to write anymore.

Will you try to garner a traditional publishing contract for any future books?

No. Aside from that already mentioned time issue, the hassle of constantly querying on top of an already hectic life just wouldn’t work.

Did you design your cover art? If not, would you care to share your graphic designer’s information?

The images were stock images where rights were purchased however, the covers for Flames of Betrayal and Celtic Evil: Ian had help from wonderful people. Flames was done by Jason Merrick while Ian’s cover was completed by Michelle Lovi.

If you used a graphic designer, how involved were you during the creative process for your cover?

Not too much. Since I have no background on covers and really have no clue how they should look except for the image I let the designers do what they think is best.

How did you feel when you got your first sale? Are you pleased with sales so far?

Thrilled and nervous. Sales have been pretty good. The Kindle sales always exceed the paperback ones, but those have been picking up some.

What kinds of social media [twitter, facebook, webpage, blog, writing forums] are you involved with trying to garner attention for your book(s)?

I’m on Twitter sierra_rose09 , I have an author page on Facebook | Sierra Rose and both books also have fan pages on FB. I also blog and try to keep blogs for both main books that are linked to: A Book Lover. I usually just promote on the Kindleboards Book Bazaar.

Besides Amazon, are there any other sites where your books are for sale?

My books can be found on Smashwords, Barnes & Noble

What’s next for you?

The sequel to my action S.E.A.L.Team Omega novel is stalled in an editing/rewrite issue but it’s still due to be out this year while I’m planning and researching Ryan’s book for my Celtic Evil: A Fitzgerald Brothers series.

I also have the start to a western romance started but it needs some tweaking to see how it goes while writing the third installment to the S.E.A.L. series

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Languages can be hard at times when I write because I want my characters to feel and sound real so I try to use the occasional phrase from their native tongue. Finding an Irish phrase book wasn’t easy. The other challenge I face is because I wasn’t taught in a classroom by an certified English teacher and just taught all subjects by a tutor(even if they were always sent by the school board) that I don’t have the skills that people who physically went to school may have in the area of grammar or style. So that’s something I face with every book.

What was the hardest part of writing your book?

Keeping things as real as possible. Even though the books are fiction I want as much of it to feel real as it can. Certain locations or happenings had to be created but I try to make as much of the rest of it as accurate as possible. That and certain scenes are hard when I write. I actually have a very hard time writing (*cough*) sex scenes so those are always an issue when I write.

Is switching genres, between paranormal romance to action, difficult?

At times. There is a certain action feel to some of the characters in Celtic Evil since guns and mercenaries do tend to appear and two of the Fitzgerald brothers have backgrounds that fit in that world but it can be tricky going from that area of witchcraft and magic to the purely action (blowing things up) style that comes with S.E.A.L. Team Omega.

Interview with Susanne O'Leary

Available at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Swedish-Beginners-novel-ebook/dp/B0037Z6YLO

Next up in the author interviews is Susanne O'Leary. Susanne has been published traditionally as well as self-publishing to Amazon. Welcome Susanne!

Briefly describe your journey in writing your first book.

My first novel was a chick-lit/romantic comedy type of book (‘Diplomatic Incidents’, published in 2001 by Blackstaff Press in Ireland), based on my experiences as the wife of a diplomat. Initially, I was going to write about the downside of diplomatic life, the homesickness and loneliness of having to pull up roots every four years and then try to settle into a new country. But then someone said that nobody would believe that diplomats are miserable and that I should plug into the myth of glamour, champagne, caviar and designer clothes, etc. So this novel became a very amusing, frothy story with farce-like elements, drawing on many funny incidents that happened to me. It took me about a year to write with many re-writes, as this was my first venture into fiction.

Did you query agents and traditional publishers? How long before you got your offer of representation/your first contract?

I queried many agents at first, then, after a zillion rejections, decided to give up on the agent idea and submitted to a smallish publisher who accepted submissions directly from authors. They took about four months to reply and then, after reading the full manuscript, made me an offer. In all, it took about a year and a half from my first submission to the offer. Then another year before the book was out.

What factors influenced your decision to go with a particular agent or publisher? The fact that this publisher accepted submissions directly from authors was a deciding factor, added to their very good reputation in producing good quality books.

Are you currently under a traditional publishing contract for future books or do you have manuscripts that you will publish directly for Kindle?

I have had four novels published by traditional publishers but then the bottom fell out of the market and there seemed to be a slowdown in the amount of books that got published. My latest publisher announced that they were no longer going to publish women’s fiction, so I found myself in a kind of limbo. And, even though I now have an agent, I decided, after a year of waiting to hear about my latest novel ‘Swedish for Beginners’, to publish it on the Kindle myself. The result was so overwhelming and the response from readers so encouraging (with many five star reviews and messages from readers all over the world), that I decided to self-publish it through Matador in the UK in paperback. I also got the rights of my previously published novels back and uploaded them on the Kindle as well.

Did you design your cover art? If not, would you care to share your graphic designer’s information?

The cover for ‘Swedish for beginners was designed by the designer at Matador, but I have another old title (Villa Caramel ) that I wanted a new cover for and that one was done by Bradley Wind (bwind3(at)gmail.com).

If you used a graphic designer/publisher’s designer, how involved were you during the creative process for your cover?

I decided on the picture myself for ‘Swedish for Beginners- a novel’ and found a lovely one on the istock photo site. Then the publisher designed the text. The same thing with ‘Villa Caramel’. I found the picture on Dreamstime and sent it to Bradley and he sent me back a few suggestions on the text and I picked the one a liked best.

How did you feel when you got your first sale?

If you mean the first sale on the Kindle, very excited! It was the first time I had published something myself and this was hugely satisfying. In fact, I might say that selling 5000 copies of my first book was only marginally more exciting. Probably because doing something all by yourself is harder and scarier.

What kinds of social media [twitter, facebook, webpage, blog, writing forums] are you involved with trying to garner attention for your book(s)?

I have a page for me and my friends on Facebook and also a fan page for ‘Swedish for Beginners – a novel’. I try to do stuff on Twitter but it’s hard to come up with something interesting there. I have a website (www.susanne-oleary.com) and also participate in many of the Amazon.com forums and Kindleboards. I should be doing more but I simply don’t have the time!

Besides Amazon, are there any other sites where your books are for sale?

My books are for sale on Smashwords as well, which distribute to all kinds of e-book devices other than the Kindle. And the paperback version of ‘Swedish for beginners’ is for sale on the Troubador site (http://www.troubador.co.uk/book_info.asp?bookid=1174)

What’s next for you?

I am, at the moment, working on a murder-mystery with another writer. It’s very exciting to branch out into a whole new genre. I am also considering writing a sequel to ‘Swedish for Beginners’, as so many of my readers have asked me to.

Interview with Tracey Alley

Available at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003HS4V4S

Welcome Tracy!

Briefly describe your journey in writing your first book.

The first book I ever wrote was absolute rubbish, but I learned a great deal from that experience and quite a few subsequent other books. My first published book ‘Erich’s Plea: Book One of the Witchcraft Wars’ was a very long process. The story initially came out of a role playing game I had played with some friends; they and I enjoyed the story so much it was suggested I turn it into a book. Of course it’s grown far and beyond the original game that was played in order to become a novel. Still I found that the storyline was so familiar to me that the actual writing of the book was, and has been – as I work on the two sequels – a very easy process.

Did you query agents or traditional publishers before publishing on Amazon?

I initially went the ‘traditional’ route with ‘Erich’s Plea’, sending it to agents and publishers and received a great deal of very positive feedback, but no contracts. Traditional publishers rarely take on new authors preferring to invest their money in established names that they know they will be able to make money on.

What factors influenced your decision to self-publish?

I received a very positive response from an agent at a traditional publishing house but as it didn’t wind up in a contract I decided if the work was good enough to get that close to a contract then it was good enough to be published even if I had to do it myself. I also had a lot of great reviews from beta-readers and felt confident myself in the quality of the work. I would never have self-published if I had not truly believed in the work I had to offer.

Will you try to garner a traditional publishing contract for any future books?

At this stage no, but I will revisit the question when the trilogy has been finalized. Although I have to confess that I love the amount of control an author has when self-publishing.

Did you design your cover art? If not, would you care to share your graphic designer’s information?

The cover art is used with permission from a graphic designer whose website ‘Feebleminds’ offers some wonderful artwork royalty free. Since that time however I have started working with a new artist.

If you used a graphic designer, how involved were you during the creative process for your cover?

As I chose a piece of work from a free website I had no creative input into the design. This is the primary reason I have found a local artist who will be working with me on all future projects; his artistic skills blend extremely well with my vision for the books and I will have much more input in any future designs.

How did you feel when you got your first sale? Are you pleased with sales so far?

My very first sale was actually a friend of mine, but that said I’ve had other sales since then and I’m absolutely elated. Given that I am a completely unknown writer I would have to say that I’m very pleased with the sales to date.

What kinds of social media [twitter, facebook, webpage, blog, writing forums] are you involved with trying to garner attention for your book(s)?

I am currently using both Twitter and Facebook and will very soon have a website finished. I haven’t yet considered a blog of my own but I’m fairly involved in Kindle Boards forums, which I find very satisfying and also very inspiring.

Besides Amazon, are there any other sites where your books are for sale?

Yes my work is also available through Smashwords and very soon will be available Print on Demand through Amazon.

What’s next for you?

I actually have two projects in the pipeline ready to go when I’ve finished the Witchcraft Wars trilogy. One is another series of fantasy novels in the same Kaynos setting used in the Witchcraft Wars. The other is a non-fiction project I’ve been working on intermittently for some time on the history and development of religion, primarily Christianity, but it encompasses all forms of organized religion.

Interview with Dave Conifer

You can become a fan of Dave and his books at his Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/people/Dave-Conifer/100000645612597

Welcome Dave!  

Briefly describe your journey in writing your first book.

Writing the first one was magical.  I’d always enjoyed writing but hadn’t gotten serious about it yet.  It was only after I was a few pages in that the characters and the settings came alive in my mind.  It took about a year to finish it.  Sometimes I’d find myself looking forward to something, dreading something, worrying about something, and then snap out of it when I realized that what I was thinking about wasn’t real – it was from the book.

I always hoped every book would be like that, but in the four I’ve completed since then my mind has decided to become more businesslike.  I still love to write but unfortunately it seems as though I’m over the magic.

Did you query agents or traditional publishers before publishing on Amazon?

I queried tons of agents for all five of my books.  I keep statistics but I’m too embarrassed to admit how many queries went out for each.  I queried every agent that had a pulse, and by accident, a few who didn’t! I overdid it to the point where my name was probably entered in a lot of spam filters as a result.

The process was quite discouraging, as most writers would agree.  I can handle being told by someone who has read my work that it’s not good enough.  In 99% of the cases, though, I was pretty sure that the agent considered my letter for about thirty seconds and if they responded at all, it was just a boilerplate sentence or two.  I understand why agents do what they do but it just didn’t sit right.  I’m still not sure if my stuff is any good but I know that readers like it a lot more than agents did.

The genre and genders of my stories don’t help.  A few agents broke down and admitted that they don’t do stories written by or about guys unless it’s fantasy or thrillers.  Bad news for a guy with three YAs under his belt.  Thus we have the self-fulfilling prophesy that “YA aged boys don’t read.”  I read a lot of books when I was YA age but in today’s world would I be happy with fifty different flavors of teen girl vampire angst?  Yeah, I was a bitter male-oriented and unpublished author but I laugh about it now.

They were more receptive when I wrote Man of Steel (thriller) and Snodgrass Vacation (adult humor) but by then I was losing my taste for the process.

What factors influenced your decision to self-publish?

I realized that nobody was going to even look at my work and give me a shot.  I also thought long and hard and learned that I really didn’t care about big sales, making lots of money or being a full-time writer.  For me it would be enough to know that there are a few people out there reading what I wrote, some of whom might enjoy it.  That’s the way it’s played out and I’m quite happy with it. 

Will you try to garner a traditional publishing contract for any future books?

No.  I’m pretty much done with that business model, if you can call it that.  As I said, I’m happy doing it this way so long as I can find a few readers here and there.  I’d rather have a few hundred people reading my books than pine away playing the agent query lottery for a bunch more years.  If an agent or publisher contacted me I’d listen but they’re not the big deal to me that they once were and I might not be interested.  I won’t know that for sure, of course, until or unless it happens.

Did you design your cover art?  If not, would you care to share your graphic designer’s information?

At first I tried to do my own covers.  Until then I would have told you that I’d be good at that.  It turned out that I wasn’t.  My covers included pictures and symbols that meant a lot to me but nothing to a casual viewer.  I’m the only writer who would put a picture of a building on a book about a high school wrestler, for instance.

One day on Kindleboards I lamented about my covers, and at the same time complimented J.L. Penn on her cover for Reunion.  We got to talking and she ended up redoing all of my covers.  I’m now really proud of how my books look.  They also have a consistent look rather than a hodgepodge of junk. 

If you used a graphic designer, how involved were you during the creative process for your cover?

J.L. was in charge but she passed me lots of ideas as she worked, and together we narrowed down what we were looking for.  When I didn’t like something she changed it but knowing her track record with her own books I usually deferred to her.  I’m glad I did, too.

How did you feel when you got your first sale?  Are you pleased with sales so far?

It was a thrill.  It still is.  Whenever I see that somebody is buying and reading what I wrote I feel the same thrill that I did the first time.

What kinds of social media [twitter, facebook, webpage, blog, writing forums] are you involved with trying to garner attention for your book(s)?

I promote my wrestling books on wrestling forums as best I can while being careful not to spam.  Kindleboards, Mobile Reads and Nookboards have been productive grounds too.

In the last few weeks, after reading the Jon F. Merz book on Facebook promotion, I set up a fan page.  I didn’t know what would happen and I don’t understand the spirit of Facebook but I know it’s a way to get my face and books in front of readers – even when I don’t know it’s happening (which is awesome – much less work once the page is set up.)  I wasn’t sure what to expect but after two weeks my numbers are definitely going up and I don’t believe it’s a coincidence.

Besides Amazon, are there any other sites where your books are for sale?

All my stories are available on Barnes and Noble and Smashwords.  I’ve recently made a deal with EZReader.com to place my books on that platform in ebook format only.

What’s next for you?

Since discovering Kindleboards last October I learned so much, and I’ve been busy with that.  I learned to be a thousand percent sure that my books are properly edited – 110 percent is not enough.  That kept me busy for a while.  I also learned how to release paperback versions via CreateSpace for very little cost, which I’ve also been busy with.  Most of all, I learned about promotion, and have sold a lot more books since then.

What I’m leading up to is that with all these things on my plate I stopped writing for about half a year.  That’s a long time.  For the past month I’ve been reminding myself that I need to get back to it.  I pulled an idea out of the trunk and have gotten back to writing.  It feels good.  It’s a lot different than anything I’ve ever written.  That’s no surprise – my books are pretty diverse already.  I’d say the new one is Nicholas Sparks-ish, but it will turn John Grisham-ish at some point.  The important thing is that I’m back at it and it feels great.